Real.
Rigorous.
Proven.
The proof is in the work. These case studies draw on Mary's career — real challenges, real organisations, real outcomes. They represent the thinking and methodology that Strategy & Silks was founded to bring to more founders.
Case Study 01
Market Entry Strategy — Emerging Markets Expansion.
A global technology platform entering a high-growth, underpenetrated market.
Engagement Type
Market Entry Strategy
Sector
Global Technology Platform
Scope
Four Workstreams
Outcome
5x growth in regional launches, delivered as a fully operational framework
The Challenge.
The platform had identified a strategically significant market with strong demographic tailwinds and rapidly growing digital adoption, but lacked the on-the-ground intelligence and structured framework to make a confident entry decision. Internal teams were stretched across existing markets and needed a strategic operator to lead the analysis and produce a recommendation that could be acted on immediately.
The Approach
Ecosystem Analysis
Mapping the competitive landscape, existing platform relationships, and key intermediaries operating in the market.
Regulatory & Structural Assessment
Identifying the legal, commercial, and operational considerations specific to the market.
Opportunity Sizing
Modelling the addressable opportunity across relevant customer and partner segments.
Entry Pathway Design
Developing a phased market entry framework with clear sequencing, priorities, and quick wins.
The project unlocked a series of high-impact quick wins — including local language localisation — and catalysed strategic partnerships with key regional players, collectively reaching hundreds of millions of users globally. Most significantly, the work drove a 5x increase in regional launches. The depth and rigour of the research ensured a seamless transition to internal stakeholders, with the strategy adopted as a fully operational framework from day one.
Case Study 02
Competitive Positioning — Enterprise Software.
Turning the gaps in a competitive proposition into a strategic roadmap for winning.
Engagement Type
Enterprise Software Company
Sector
Competitive Intelligence & GTM
Scope
Three Workstreams
Outcome
Competitive objections converted into points of advantage
The Challenge.
Despite offering superior long-term value and broader user accessibility, the company was losing deals to a competitor on two consistent pressure points — a perception gap around pricing, and a critical integration that prospects were treating as a non-negotiable. The sales team lacked the intelligence and tools to address these objections effectively in the room.
The Approach
Win/Loss Analysis
Identifying the recurring patterns behind lost deals and the specific moments where competitor advantage was cited.
Pricing Perception Audit
Mapping how prospects interpreted upfront cost against long-term value, and where the narrative was breaking down.
Differentiation Mapping
Assessing how the company's genuine competitive advantages were being communicated, and where they were failing to land.
The sales team was equipped with a clear competitive narrative and the tools to turn their two most common objections into points of advantage.
Three actionable recommendations were delivered — including dynamic ROI tools, customised value demonstrations, and a roadmap for proactively communicating the integration development pipeline to prospects.
Case Study 03
Operational Infrastructure & Organisational Visibility — Technology Platform.
When a high-performing team has no infrastructure to prove it.
Client
Global Technology Platform
Engagement Type
Operational Infrastructure & Organisational Design
Scope
Three Workstreams
Outcome
From invisible to indispensable — infrastructure that elevated an entire function.
The Challenge.
The team was functioning as a collection of individual contributors — talented, productive, and largely invisible. There was no shared data infrastructure, no coherent team voice, and no mechanism for communicating performance or opportunity to senior leadership. A lack of visibility for the team's work made making confident strategic decisions that cater to all its member's need difficult .
The Approach
Partnership Dashboard
Designing and building a centralised data source that consolidated partnership performance, pipeline, and opportunity across the organisation.
Internal Communications
Establishing a regular newsletter that gave the team a coherent voice, surfaced wins, and created a consistent rhythm of cross-functional engagement.
Output Showcasing
Developing a framework for making team performance visible to senior stakeholders and cross-functional collaborators — translating activity into impact in language that informed executive decision making.
A fragmented team of individual contributors became a cohesive, high-visibility organisation — with the infrastructure, voice, and data to operate at the level their work deserved.
— A centralised data source that gave leadership a complete picture of partnership performance and strategic opportunity for the first time.
— A consistent internal communications rhythm that established a recognisable team identity and drove cross-functional collaboration.
— Executive visibility of team output that directly informed strategic decision making and elevated the perceived value of the function.
Every engagement is different.
The thinking behind them isn't. If you have a challenge that needs strategic clarity - let's talk.